5D04-4166 Arthur Felton v. StateA

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State: Florida

Court: Florida Southern District Court

Docket No: 5D04-4166.op

Case Date: 12/26/2005

Plaintiff: 5D04-4166 Arthur Felton

Defendant: State

Preview:IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA FIFTH DISTRICT JULY TERM 2005
ARTHUR LEE FELTON, Appellant,
v. Case No. 5D04-4166 STATE OF FLORIDA ,
Appellee. _________________________/ Opinion filed December 30, 2005 Appeal from the Circuit Court
for Lake County,
T. Michael Johnson, Judge.
James S. Purdy, Public Defender, and Rose M. Levering, Assistant Public Defender, Daytona Beach, for Appellant.
Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Rebecca Rock McGuigan, Assistant Attorney General, Daytona Beach, for Appellee.
THOMPSON , J.
Arthur Lee Felton appeals the revocation of his sex offender probation following a finding that he violated four conditions of probation, contending that the failure of the charging affidavit of violation of probation to be sworn to before a person authorized to administer oaths constitutes fundamental error. We disagree and affirm.
On 20 April 2001, Felton was charged by information for sexual battery on a child
less than 12 years of age by a person over the age of 18 years in familial authority. Felton entered a plea agreement on 8 April 2002, in which he pled and was adjudicated guilty of lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim less than 12 years of age. On 11 April 2002, the court sentenced Felton to 15 years' imprisonment with the first three to be served immediately, with credit for time served, and ordered the remaining 12 years suspended while he complied with the terms of his probation. Felton was placed on sex offender probation for the ten years following completion of his three-year sentence.
On 30 December 2003, a probation officer filed an affidavit of violation of sex offender probation. Felton was arrested away from his residence for possession of marijuana on 26 December 2003 at 10:44 p.m., violating two conditions of his probation:
(1) that he not violate any law and (2) that he comply with a mandatory curfew from
10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. The affidavit was signed "[u]nder penalties of perjury," but was not sworn to before an official authorized to administer oaths. A warrant was subsequently issued for Felton's arrest, but was dismissed on 5 May 2004.
A new affidavit for violation of sex offender probation was filed on 1 July 2004 and was signed "[u]nder penalties of perjury," but not sworn to before a person authorized to administer oaths. The warrant issuing from this affidavit listed six violations of the conditions of Felton's probation. Felton had not paid the costs of his supervision, failed three times to comply with his probation officer's order to register with the Division of Motor Vehicles, and violated two conditions by being arrested outside his home at 3:24 a.m. on 26 June 2004 for giving false information to a police officer.
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